


Campfire

by typewrittenthoughts



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: AU, Camping, Multi, clone club - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/typewrittenthoughts/pseuds/typewrittenthoughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically, Clone Club camping, complete with singing, marshmallows, and Alison dancing.</p><p>References to events that happened throughout Season 3, so I'd recommend making sure you've seen it all to avoid spoilers!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Campfire

**Author's Note:**

> First time I've ever written something for Orphan Black - I'm a little nervous as to whether I've got the characterisation right, so any critiques are gladly welcomed! Spoilers for season three (references to events anyway). If anybody wants to hear some of the songs mentioned, I've listed them in order at the bottom, however I was listening to the versions sung by Alan Doyle and others at the Indoor Garden Party in New York a couple of years back, all of which are on YouTube if you want a listen. :)

They really are quite a group, Sarah thinks, looking around the campfire. Tony, Felix and Mrs S handing out cups of wine, Helena trying to eat as many marshmallows as humanly possible. Cosima and Delphine were curled up tightly together in a hammock, totally oblivious to the chatter of their companions, Delphine's near-death having brought them even closer together. Alison was fussing over the saucepans they'd used to cook in - "I'd like to avoid unknown camping diseases, thank you Donnie," - and Krystal was chatting to Kira about something or other. 

She felt a hand against her back, looking up to see Cal standing with his guitar. "What in the world is that for?"

"Kira dragged me to a music group while we were away. Reconnected with the acoustic. She's become pretty musical, you know."

Sarah grins at this, breaking away from his gaze to look over at her eight year old, who's moved to sit by Helena at this point and is showing her how to make s'mores. "She doesn't get it from me, I know that much already."

"I still remember your drunk rendition of 'Anyone Who Had a Heart'. A real tear-jerker."

She slaps his arm lightly. "That's nothing compared to Fee's cover of 'Born This Way'. Mum's bloody brilliant though, you should have heard her in London."

"I'll have you know my GaGa impression was the talk of Camden for weeks," Felix interrupts, handing Sarah a paper cup of alcohol as Cal sits down and gets the guitar out of its case. "Come on, get that in the system."

The music begins and it's raw, heartfelt, and fairly folksy. The singing is slightly out of tune, except for the bits Siobhan joins in on, but nobody seems to care, more concerned with enjoying each other's company. There's something so awfully sappy about the group of them sat around a campfire, mismatched and drawn together, but it only adds to the atmosphere. Sarah feels a bit like she's in some shitty indie film, and is surprised to realise that it's the happiest she's been in a while, watching Krystal approach Tony with a bag of marshmallows. Tony had pitched up out of the blue and, to everyone's surprise, the two got on like a house on fire, having struck up a friendship almost immediately. 

As the voice of her mother takes to the air, Sarah takes a swig of what appears to be cider, leaning back against the nearest tree and glancing around the circle again, throwing a nearby twig on to the fire.

_Undeniable, graceful and divine,_  
_Immeasurable, love is time,_  
_Untraceable, brutal and so kind,_  
_Love is impossible to find._

"Hey, you okay?" Cosima asks, lifting her head from Delphine's shoulder to look the woman in the eyes. Delphine nods, giving her a watery smile as she lifts a hand to brush a few loose hairs out of her eyes. "Oui," she says with a sniff, "I just get very, how do you say...emotionally invested in songs," she confesses, smiling down at her dreadlocked girlfriend. It was the chorus of this particular song that had gotten to her, describing love as being something brutal yet kind, making her think of the past year and how battered their relationship had become. Yet even then, Cosima had been perhaps the best thing in her life, and she would rather have had her alive and hating her than dead.

Cosima gently traces Delphine's bullet-shaped scar through her shirt, wrapping her arms around the European's waist and settling down again. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't cry much at songs, but there's a couple that set me off," she murmurs, feeling Delphine press a kiss to her head and grinning at the memory that comes to mind. "I remember crying over Celine Dion at a high school dance once. Never lived it down."

Delphine lets out a small laugh at that. "I can picture it now. Cosima Niehaus, soon-to-be scientist, in tears over My Heart Will Go On," she pauses for a moment, imagining it. "Did you have the dreads?"

She feels Cosima shake her head lightly. "Nope. I had this insanely wild hair. Seriously, it was, like, explosive. Imagine yours when you've just woken up, but loads more of it."

"I'd like to see your natural hair one day. I cannot imagine you without these," Delphine replies, twirling a couple of dreadlocks around her fingers. Cosima expels a soft sigh, leaning further in to her touch, closing her eyes happily as Delphine's other arm pulls her closer, Cal and Siobhan switching to a faster and slightly more upbeat song.

_Don't want to ride into the sunset,_  
_With murder on my mind,_  
_Let me lie with a lullaby,_  
_I'm not the man I left behind,_  
_Fallen, fallen, fallen,_  
_Wicked with regret,_  
_I can't sing a killing song before I go to bed,_  
_No, I can't sing a killing song before I go to bed._

"Is this entirely appropriate with Kira running about?"

"She's fine, Alison. Relax," Sarah calls back. 

"Come, little Kira. Let us dance."

Kira giggles as Helena pulls her to her feet with a grin, taking her hands and twisting them in time to the music, jumping as she does so, wild blonde hair going everywhere. The last time they all danced together marked the beginning of a much darker period, yet at this time she feels free, with her sestras around her and Kira tugging at her arms. She pops another marshmallow in to her mouth, ignoring Alison's worry over her getting a stitch in her side - "leave her, Ali, she's having fun," she hears Sarah mutter - smiling down at Kira with sticky teeth and a glint of joy in her eyes.

"Come on, I love this one," Cosima says, looking at Delphine with a grin and pleading eyes. She has no idea how they're going to get out of the hammock (getting in to it was difficult enough), but she wants some time to dance with her love, to let go and forget everything about Neolution and DYAD, like they've been trying to do for the past few months. Delphine sighs and nods, a smile finding its way to her face as Cosima's lights up even more. They half-climb, half-fall out of their hammock, landing in a pile of tangled limbs, both laughing harder than they have in a while. Delphine manages to stand up first, wiping a tear from her eye as she helps Cosima to her feet.

It isn't long before they're laughing again, arms around each other as they practically gallop around the campfire together in time with the music. "Be careful, mon amour," Delphine calls over the sound of Cal's guitar as they almost fall over a log, grabbing Cosima's waist just in time to stop her tripping. "My bad," Cosima grins, stumbling slightly as she pulls them out of Alison's way. Although her lungs are more or less healed up, she's already a little breathless, manoeuvring them to sit and watch the others instead. Delphine fetches them a couple of sticks and a bag of marshmallows, slipping her arm around Cosima as they toast them over the fire.

_Sweet Jesus in the Garden,_  
_Won't you grant this boy a pardon,_  
_It's true he really don't know what he's done,_  
_Better lock the church door tight,_  
_'Cause at the slightest crack of light,_  
_That boy is gonna hit the ground and run._

Alison lets out a little huff as she tries and fails to get out a particularly tough stain, squirting a little more washing up liquid in to the saucepan she's scrubbing. She barely notices Helena approaching until the saucepan is removed from her grip and put back in to the pile. "Helena, I was-"

"No, sestra Alison, you do not have to work. It is why we are here, to have fun. And I like this song. It has good rhythm, yes?"

Alison wants to take the pan back, but with Helena looking up at her in Alison's too-big jumper (she's not entirely sure how that happened, considering the whole genetically identical factor, but decides it's a question for another day), she relents, putting the washing up liquid back in the hamper she brought along. She lets Helena take hold of her wrist, smiling primly as she's practically dragged to her feet. It's not long before Helena has started her usual head-swinging dancing, almost knocking Felix out as she does, and Alison takes a nervous step back. She's never been much of a casual dancer, preferring to have choreography to go from, and isn't entirely sure what to do. 

Glancing around, Tony and Krystal are engaged in some sort of back-to-back shimmying, Sarah and Kira are jumping around together around the campfire, carefully avoiding Cosima and Delphine, who are still seated but swaying slightly. Mrs S, Donnie, and Cal are too busy singing to join in, and she feels a little isolated.

That is, until Felix approaches her with what looks suspiciously like a pot of glitter in one hand and a cup of wine in the other. "I cannot get through another song of you soccer mom shuffling. Come on, get this down your throat and let go," he tells her bluntly, thrusting the cup in to her hand and watching as she rolls her eyes and takes a few sips.

It isn't long before Felix has her in the centre of the dancing, grinding lightly against her (normally she'd mind, but it's fun and it's Felix, so she makes an allowance) as Sarah lets loose a couple of wolf whistles. 

Their "clone club" may be at times a little dysfunctional, but they've been through a lot together. It almost shouldn't work, but it does, and Alison thinks that's what makes it so great. Even those fairly new to things - Tony, Krystal, even Delphine, who's only recently been trusted enough to join them - have slotted in perfectly. They may be mismatched and formed under very odd circumstances, but they're a family, and it's moments like this that really solidify that for her.

There's another half an hour or so of music, before Sarah deems it Kira's bedtime, prompting Cal to put away his guitar so he doesn't disturb her. Alison and Donnie say their goodnights too, followed shortly by Krystal. The rest of them stay up a little longer, before Cosima and Delphine excuse themselves, heading towards their shared tent, hand-in-hand. Mrs S watches them go with a chuckle as Felix mimes vomiting, secretly pleased they're back on good terms with each other. "Goodnight, chickens," she says to the remaining group, retiring to her own tent, leaving Tony, Felix, Cal, and Sarah to quietly converse under the night sky.

She looks up at the stars, pretending she didn't hear the small moan coming from Cosima's tent (there are some things she just doesn't want to get involved in), and takes a glance back at the group left by the dying fire, smiling softly to herself. It's been a rough few months, but they've pulled through, and even though she sometimes feels like she's ended up with four more daughters and another son, she wouldn't change things for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that was okay! In order, the songs used were:
> 
> Love Is Impossible - Alan Doyle and Russell Crowe  
> Killing Song - Alan Doyle and Russell Crowe  
> Hit The Ground and Run - Great Big Sea
> 
> As mentioned above, the versions I was listening to are all from the NYC Indoor Garden Party, so YouTube is the place to go if you want to hear the inspirations behind this fic (which I recommend doing, the performers were all incredible!). Hope everyone enjoyed!


End file.
